Windmill
Developer platform to turn scripts into workflows and UIs
The Lens
By Erik Loyd, SaaS CEO and former COO/CFO of an AWS Premier Partner.
Updated Aug 2026
Windmill turns your scripts, in Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, or SQL, into scheduled jobs, API endpoints, workflows, and internal tools with real UIs. Write a function and Windmill generates the input form, then handles scheduling, retries, permissions, and logging. It is what you get when n8n meets a proper IDE.
The self-hosted Community edition is free under AGPLv3, and the limits are more generous than the marketing suggests: up to 50 users, with SSO capped at 10 of them. Unlimited executions, 3 workspaces, unlimited scripts, flows and apps, and a maximum of 4 permission groups. Self-hosting runs on Docker Compose with Postgres and takes under an hour. A 2GB RAM VM handles it comfortably, and the ongoing ops burden is mostly database maintenance.
Enterprise starts at $120 a month, and how it prices matters more than the headline. Seats are $20 a month per developer and $10 per operator, where an operator can run scripts and flows but not create or edit them. Compute is billed separately at $50 per worker per month, and a group of 8 native subworkers is another $50. Their own calculator quotes $170 a month for a single developer with three compute units, so treat $120 as a floor rather than a plan price. Solo devs: free covers everything. Small teams: free, and 50 users goes further than most open core limits. Teams that need SSO past 10 people, audit logs, or SAML group sync: that is the Enterprise line.
The catch: Windmill is less known than n8n or Retool, so the community is smaller and there are fewer pre-built integrations and examples to copy. If you need hundreds of ready-made SaaS connectors, n8n is ahead. If you would rather write actual code than drag boxes around, Windmill wins that trade easily.
Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
open coreFree (Self-Hosted Community, AGPLv3)
Unlimited executions. Up to 50 users, with SSO capped at 10. 3 workspaces, unlimited variables, resources, scripts, apps and flows, a maximum of 4 permission groups, all open source features, and public apps. Community support on Discord. Deploys on Docker, Kubernetes, or Fargate.
Paid (Enterprise): from $120/mo
Audit logs, SAML with group synchronization, uncapped SSO, a distributed dependency cache backed by S3, a commercial license, an SLA with 24/7 priority support and a 3 hour response time, and a dedicated Slack or Discord channel.
Enterprise is priced in parts rather than as a flat plan:
- Developer seats: $20/mo each
- Operator or external JWT seats: $10/mo each (half a developer seat)
- Standard workers: $50/worker/mo, 2GB memory limit each
- A group of 8 native subworkers: $50/mo
Windmill's own calculator quotes $170/mo for 1 developer plus 3 compute units. Budget from that shape, not from the $120 headline.
Self-Hosted Costs
Postgres plus Windmill via Docker Compose. A $20 to $40 a month VM handles small to medium workloads. Workers scale horizontally, so add VMs when you need more parallel execution.
Comparison
- n8n: many more pre-built integrations and a visual-first builder. Windmill is code-first.
- Retool: better for complex internal tool UIs. Windmill is better for script-centric automation.
- Prefect: better for data pipeline orchestration specifically. Windmill is more general purpose.
- Temporal: better for mission-critical durable workflows. Windmill is simpler for most jobs.
Verdict
The free self-hosted tier covers small teams completely, and 50 users is a real limit rather than a token one. The moment SSO needs to reach more than 10 people, you are on the Enterprise ladder and paying per seat and per worker.
Self-hosted free tops out at 50 users with SSO capped at 10. Enterprise starts at $120/mo but prices seats and compute separately, so real quotes land higher.
What to do by team size
- Solo
- free; self-hosted covers everything you need
- Small team
- free; 50 users goes further than most open core limits
- Medium team
- free until you need SSO past 10 people or audit logs
- Large team
- Enterprise from $120/mo, plus $20 per developer and $50 per worker. Get a real quote.
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